Linkin Park

At a time when heavy music was undergoing a major transition, due to the competing forces of ‘90s grunge and emerging nu-metal, Linkin Park combined both influences with added hip hop elements and proceeded to conquer the world nearly overnight with what they called their ‘Hybrid Theory.’ This was of course the title given the first album released in 2000 by the group, which had been formed in Agoura Hills, California, around 1996, by Mike Shinoda (vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards) and Brad Delson (gui-tar, bass), prior to recruiting Chester Bennington (lead vocals), Joe Hahn (turntables, sampling) and Rob Bourdon (drums). A runaway success, ‘Hybrid Theory’ spun off four chart-dominating singles and immediately established Linkin Park as the new millennium’s first rising stars, as it went on to earn a rare Diamond award for U.S. sales in ex-cess of ten million albums, and an estimated 17 million more, worldwide. In the meantime, Linkin Park proved their mettle as performers by packing arenas and stadiums all over the world — then they defeated the infamous sophomore slump by shifting some 20 million copies of 2003’s ‘Meteora,’ and another 15 million of 2007’s Rick Rubin-produced third album, ‘Minutes to Midnight.’ Linkin Park began experimenting with their signature sound on 2010’s increasingly electronic ‘A Thousand Suns,’ which drew critical comparisons to Radiohead, but they brought more guitars into 2012’s ‘Living Things’ and especially 2014’s back-to-basics ‘The Hunting Party’ — all of which earned merely Gold certifications in America, but once again sold millions of composite copies across the globe. It’s fair to assume that the group will continue to concentrate on this interna-tional fan base as they carry on developing their hybrid sound in intriguing new directions.